Trip Overview

The capital of the Yunnan province is located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau on 1900 meters above sea level. Because of the all year round pleasant, spring like climate Kunming was nicknamed “The Spring City”. Whether exploring the city by bus, taxi, by bicycle or on foot, visitors will find Kunming a rather easy and pleasant city to get around… Enjoy the diversity of natural wonders in this province: fertile valleys, tropical rainforests, tranquil lakes, thundering rivers, snow-capped mountains and glaciers, nurturing two of the world's great rivers, the Mekong and the Yangtse.

Itinerary Details Day by Day

Day 1 Kunming Arrival

Fly to Kunming in the morning, transferred to the hotel for rest. In the afternoon, visit Qiongzhu (Bamboo) Temple, surrounding which there has a bamboo forest and wonderful and mysterious legend as well about their origins. It’s the first temple for introducing the Chan sect of Buddhism to Yunnan.

Fly to Kunming in the morning, transferred to the hotel for rest.

In the afternoon, visit Qiongzhu (Bamboo) Temple, surrounding which there has a bamboo forest and wonderful and mysterious legend as well about their origins. It’s the first temple for introducing the Chan sect of Buddhism to Yunnan.

Next, enjoy the fragrance in Dounan Flower Market, one of the biggest flowers’ trade markets in Asia. As the "heart" of Chinese flowers’ markets, it boasts more than 50 species and 200 varieties like Perfume Lily, Rose, Forget-me-not, Carnation, Butterfly Orchid, Gerbera etc.

At last, experience wonders from the Stone Forest, where the tall rocks seem to shoot from the ground like stalagmites, which look like many petrified trees.

Day 3 Stone Forest-Kunming (B,L)

Drive to Kunming city. The marvelous cliff grotto project of Dragon Gate in Western Hills will surprise you first. Then, visit the Huating Temple, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Yunnan Province, located in the hillside of Western Hills.

Next, wander around the East and West Temple Towers, the ancient high twin towers of the city, which are located in very old streets that have a history around 1100 years. When visiting the towers of histories of 840 and 859 years respectively, which stand far apart facing each other against modernized building, you can also have a look at local people's life.

At last, enjoy the serene beauty in Green Lake Park, which is one of the most beautiful parks in Kunming and also known for thousands of black-headed gulls in warm winter.

Day 4 Kunming-Dali (B,L)

Drive to Dali. Today you will tour the Dali Ancient Town, one of the top-listed historical cities of China since 1982. With Erhai Lake to the east, and Cangshan Mountain to the west, its grand city wall, traditional Bai ethnic minority folk houses and the cobble-paved streets form an unforgettably unique view for visitors, primitive but elegant!

Then, visit the Three Pagodas, comprised of three independent pagodas forming a symmetric triangle. It has a history of over 1000 years and is the landmark of the Dali Ancient City. Next, the folk houses of Bai ethnic will bring you a lyrical and carefree life with Bai minority culture immersion. Surrounded by the green mountains, winding creeks and fertile land, Walking along the slate road, sauntering though the winding alleys, a good view of the delicate and intricate designs on the walls will make you feel awesome!

Day 5 Dali-Shaxi (B,L)

Drive to Shaxi Old Town, the thousands of year’s old ancient Bai minority village between Lijiang and Dali Scenic Areas. Nestled deep in the Himalayan foothills of southwest China's Yunnan Province, Shaxi is a culturally diverse town for you to experience the Shaxi Old Town, Shaxi River, Xinjiao Temple, and immerse in this once bustling trade station (of the Silk Road) in the square and some ancient courtyards with local people.

Then trek from Shaxi Old Town up to Shibaoshan Mountain, which has the famous Grotto Group of South China and is particularly known for MoYan statues in the cave temple. Also, visit ancient temples like Shizhong Temple and Baoxiang Temple there.

Day 6 Shaxi-Lijiang (B,L)

Today you will drive to explore the Lijiang Old Town, a UNESCO Heritage Site and the best preserved ancient town in China, has retained a historic townscape of high quality and authenticity and its architectures are noteworthy for the blending of elements from different cultures.

Then visit the Black Dragon Pool Park, known as “the Summer Palace in South China”, enclosing a spring-fed pool etc. beautiful natural scene and temples inside.

Day 7 Lijiang (B,L)

Today first enjoy the Baisha Murals formed in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Most Baisha murals depict religious stories and combine several legends into one picture with Naxi, Tibetan, Bai and Han styles.

Then have rest or wandering around by yourself for several hours. At last, the Naxi Ancient Music can’t be missed. Famous as a “living fossil of Chinese music”, this traditional Naxi classical music uses many musical instruments including flute, shawm, Chinese flute, plectrum, and zither while playing.

Day 8 Lijiang-Weixi (B,L)

Drive to Weixi (Weixi Lisu Autonomous County), a lively county town where some of the Lisu and Yi women still wear their traditional dress. And you can meet new shops and hotels alongside old wooden buildings, tradition and modernity mixed there.

Visit the Shigu Town (Stone Drum Town, named after a drum-shaped marble plaque) en route, where you can experience the wonder of the First Bend of Yangtze River, the U-turn of Jinsha River (the upper reach of Yangtze River). And sauntering around this town in the market day you can really experience the natural and simple life in this once important town on Tea-horse Road.

Then, explore Cizhong Village, the “Little Shangri-La”, where the seven ethnic minorities like Zang, Han, Lihsu, Bai, Nu etc. live together and three religions like Buddhism, Catholic and Christianity co-exist with harmony. The Cizhong Christian Church was built by French missionaries last century there. Weather permitting, you can enjoy a clear vista of the Mt. Kawagebo Peak. Drive to Deqin.

Day 10 Deqin (B,L)

First visit Feilai Temple, built in Ming Dynasty and only 10km away from Deqin. An amazing view of Meili Snow Mountain en route will refresh you with wonder. At the foot of Kagebo Peak lies the Mingyong Glacier, which is rarely seen at such low altitude and latitude. It is formed by a rare monsoon maritime glacier which stops only 800 meters from the surface of the Lantsang River. Then hike to the Taizi Temple (Prince Temple), a small temple full of Tibetans who come here to worship the holy mountain. Drive back to visit Feilai Temple at last.

Day 11 Deqin- Shangri-La (B,L)

Drive from Deqin to Shangri-La, visit Benzi Lan (means “golden sand bank” in Tibetan) and Dongzhu Lin Temple (East Bamboo Forest Temple) en route. Known as the “Southern Beauty” in Khampa area with unique Tibetan culture and ethnic handicrafts, Benzi Lan once was the key town of the Yunnan-Tibet Ancient Tea-horse Road. Located at an altitude of 3,000 meters but having favorable monsoon climate, Dongzhu Lin Temple has collected many precious culture relics.

Day 12 Shangri-La (B,L)

Today visit the Songzanlin Monastery, located at the hillside of Foping Mountain near Shangri-La County. With the typical traditional Tibetan architectural style, it is also known as the little Potala Palace; and having the largest prayer wheel in the world and magnificent frescoes of Buddhist stories, this monastery makes itself a must-see for visits to Yunnan Province.

Then experience the thousands of years’ vicissitudes of Dukezong Old Town located in Shangri-La. As the largest and best-reserved Tibetan town among China’s Tibetan counties with a history of 1,300 years, Dukezong Old Town was a key station on the Ancient Tea-horse Road and has been also known as the “footstep of Shangri-La”. The traditional Tibetan dwellings, palatial prayer halls and pagodas, ancient winding lanes make this old town the best sanctuary to all those seeking an unforgettable memory swaying in soft and still!

Day 13 Shangri-La-Lijiang (B,L)

Today, drive to visit the spectacular Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world’s deepest gorges and located where the Yangtze River passes between 5,596-metre Jade Dragon and 5,396-meter Haba Snow Mountain. Then drive to Lijiang for rest!

Most Recommended Add-ons / Optional Activities

+ One more day to hike the most beautiful Mutianyu Great Wall and the tombs of Ming Emperors

Today our tour guide will meet you and pick you up from your hotel around 8:00 am. Then drive to the beautiful Mutianyu Great Wall (80km away from Beijing downtown), it is known for its beautiful surroundings. It is a superb location to appreciate the grandness of the Great Wall as well as to avoid the crowds at Badaling. After hiking on the Mutianyu Great Wall for about 1 or 2 hours, then move on to the Ming Tombs(Changling or Dingling) and its Sacred Way. On the way back to your hotel, you may make a stop at the Beijing Olympic Village to take some pictures of the world-famed "Bird’s Nest" and the "Water Cube" from the outside.

+ 3 more days to unveil mysterious veil of the last holy place in the world - Tibet

Tibet is the last Holy Place in the World! Explore the place to save the world inthe movie 2012.

Tibet is a place to visit once in a lifetime! The mysterious and sacred Buddhism, the religious and smiling loving people, the majestic and breathtaking scenery, the pure sky and fresh air... We make your dream come true! Travel to Tibet with us to explore the last holy place in the world!

Price from $2292 (per person)

Price Conditions:
Price for private group from 10 persons in low seasons.

Please Note:
* The price of this trip changes a lot according your group number, travel season and tour class. Please contact one of our travel consultants for the most detailed quotation. We ensure the BEST price.
* Discounts for children in China are based on height. Let us know your child's age and height and we can calculate accordingly.

Price Exclusions

Service Overview of this Trip

Your experience is everything, so flawless personal service is our focus.

When you taking this trip with us, we'll make sure that you get the most out of your investment: the best value hotels, superior tour services, comfortable transfers and transportation, and an impeccable customer service.

Our Friendly & Experienced Local Tour Guide

When showing you a tourist destination, nothing is more important than the person hosting you. They must be gracious, patient, flexible, have a pleasing personality and speak English well.

Our guides are carefully selected and trained. We not only evaluate their language skills, their knowledge of sites but also their personality and ability to be a kind host.

From the moment you land in China to your departure flight home, they concentrate on your needs and being the best hosts to you that they possible can during the whole trip.

Moreover, they are flexible, so is this trip. Your guide can work with you to be flexible should you wish to change your itinerary. If its a small change they will sort it out directly with you. If its a big change they may need to call our office to coordinate it and quote costs if you are adding on to the itinerary.

Our Vehicle and Drivers Used in this Trip

We only use the safe, legal, clean and comfortable vehicle for your trip. We have a fleet of vehicles at our disposal, so depending on the size of your group, we will give you one that is the right size. We make sure everyone in your group has enough room to spread out and stow their luggage.

Normally you will have the same driver every day in a city. Drivers do not speak English, that is the job of the guide. Their job is to make you safe and comfortable.

Local Flavor Meals in this Trip

During this trip, you will have your breakfast on the hotel, which are all included in price of the package (only if you book the hotels with us).

For the lunch everyday, meals in good local restaurants include plenty of dishes selected according to your taste, and we will order more if need be, vegetarian and other special diets no problem. All lunches are included in the package.

For the dinner indicated in the itinerary, we usually take you to the very local famous restaurant, like the Quan Ju De Roast Duck in Beijing, Tang Dynasty Dumpling Dinner in Xian, etc.

For the meals not packaged on the itinerary, you can ask for some suggestions from your tour guide in each city and they usually know where to eat based on your interests.

Accommodations

We have a great relationship with a wide selection of hotels in each tourist city around China, so we could arrange the accommodations at the best price, from budget to luxurious and featured to modern, to meet every client's needs.

No Forced Shopping

Normally we arrange one or two shopping stops at each destination. At these shops you can buy genuine, high quality local specialties at a reasonable price. These shopping opportunities are according to your own desires; there will be no forced shopping.

Guaranteed Prices & No Hidden Fees

The tour price quoted for this trip what you'll pay, even if inflation or a drop in the dollar-to-yuan exchange rate increases operating costs. We have never increase your final payment, and we never will.

During the trip, no fees will be asked except for your personal expense and the additional activities.

Why Travel with Us - our advantages

A China Local Travel Agency based in Beijing

* we specialize in Beijing and other tourist destinations around China;* we can be with you every step of the way;* we can offer the LOWEST price for all trips;* we can deliver the very first-hand destination knowledge;* we can provide 24/7 in-trip assistance;

Tailor-made Itineraries

All our tours are fully customizable.

We can work with you to put together an itinerary that fits your specific needs and interests. Our staff is fully qualified to work with you to customize an itinerary on a service by service basis. Just tell us what you want and we'll make it happen!

One-on-One Travel Consultant Service

After sending us an enquiry, one of our travel consultants will respond to you within 0.5~23.5 hours. In the next planning days, you will be working closely to design an ideal trip to suit your specific interests, requirements and budget.

During your trip, they always call you to make sure everything is going well as planned.

No Forced Shopping

Normally we arrange one or two shopping stops at each destination. At these shops you can buy genuine, high quality local specialties at a reasonable price. These shopping opportunities are according to your own desires; there will be no forced shopping.

Guaranteed Prices & No Hidden Fees

The tour price quoted for this trip what you'll pay for, even if inflation or a drop in the dollar-to-yuan exchange rate increases operating costs, we never increase your final payment, and we never will.

During the trip, no fees will be asked except for your personal expense and the additional activities.

Experienced Tour Guide & Driver

Our guides are carefully selected and trained. We not only evaluate their language skills, their knowledge of sites but also their personality and ability to be a kind host.

We only use the safe, legal, clean and comfortable vehicles for your trip.

Dean Wudy was professional and an excellent tour guide! He was very helpful when we needed help with wheel chair issues. He helped us a lot through the entire trip, especially at the Great Wall. It is knowledge of Beijing history was great. We would recommend him and the driver Shed to anyone that comes to Beijing. We would like to have Dean and Shed for the next time we come to Beijing. This was a great trip. We love China.

Trip FAQs & Notes

Here you will find the answers to the questions our travelers most frequently ask about this trip. If you do not find the answer to your specific question, please contact us directly.

1. What's the private tour type?

Only you and your family, friends or colleagues in this group to visit the destinations listed on the itinerary escorted by a
private English-speaking tour guide and private vehicle with an experienced local driver.

2. Is this trip customizable?

Yes. You can either work with your travel consultant to put together an itinerary that fits your specific needs while planning step, or you may work with your tour guide while on tour should you wish to change your itinerary.

If its a small change they will sort it out directly with you. If its a big change they may need to call our office to coordinate it and quote costs if you are adding on to the itinerary.

3. What's the difference between group tour and private package?

Group tour means shared guide and shared vehicle, cost-saving but not customized, and also it is shopping tour, but you can know a lot of people from the group.

PRIVATE PACKAGE means we will provide you with a private vehicle, which is big enough for your group of people, and a private driver and guide for private tours and transfers as listed in our itinerary. Private tour is more flexible and valuable. You could spend more time at places you feel like than what has been scheduled. You could start your tour every day.

4. What's the arrangement of the vehicles for the tour?

Normally customers take care of the international flights on their own, and we can help you to book if you want. And the better thing is that leave the domestic transportation for travel agent, and they can book the train or flights based on your time and tour arrangement, it will be easy for them to change or cancel if there is any emergency.

5. How can we meet the guide at airport or train station?

Just tell the agent that your international flights information and we will arrange the guide and driver at the airport for you on time with your name card, and also the agent will arrange every city’s pick up and transfer for you, all you do is to enjoy worry-free trip in China.

6. Should we change our cell phone SIM card in China?

Normally you do not need, if you want to make a domestic call, you can ask help from the guide or hotel. If you want to communicate your travel agent at any time you want, tell them you need SIM card, they will arrange the guide help you to get one when you arrive.

And the SIM card will be 5-16$ with 4-15$ call charge in the card, which will be enough for your whole China tour.

7. What’s kind of clothes should we take? And what’s about the laundry?

Depends on how long you will stay and also the season, from late April to early Nov. you can just take some light clothes, other time, you need to take winter coat. And you can do the laundry in hotels where you will stay longer, and also different hotels have different charge rates. If necessary you can ask the guide to help to arrange it.

8. What’s the difference between shopping tour and non-shopping tour? Which one is better for me?

For shopping tour, you will be guided to some shops to buy things that you are interested, but this is not compulsive to buy, and shopping tour will be cheaper than non-shopping tour, but will be time cost in shops. And non-shopping tour you will not be guided to shops for the whole tour, and more time for sightseeing but more expensive.

If you want to buy something from China, shopping tour is better, and if you just want to enjoy the sightseeing non-shopping tour is the right choice. Also you can chose to have some shopping and non-shopping cities based on your needs if you go on a private tour.

9. How should I apply Chinese visa? Will you travel agent help with that?

Normally you need to go to the local Chinese embassy, and ask them what you should to prepare. And in some countries, they need invitation from China, so you can ask the Chinese travel agent to provide you the travel invitation, and then prepare some other documents, most time you can get the Chinese visa soon. And also you should apply the visa valid duration time based on your travel time, 15days, 30days or 90days.

10. Is it convenient for us to withdraw some money from bank in China? Should we bring cash with us for the tour?

If you hold visa card or MasterCard, you can get money at some ATM, and it will charge you some fee, different rate based on different card or country. Most shops and hotels can accept your credit card. And it is better for you to bring some cash with you, and you can change the cash at airport or hotel or bank, especially for USA dollar or Euro dollar, Australia dollar, most banks can accept that, but the change rate will change a little bit.

11. What if I get lost during the tour in China?

When you find the guide is not with you and can not find he or she in the immediate area, please don't panic, realize that your guide is not far away and he or she is actively looking for you. You will be found soon.

So you can stay where you are and let the guide find you. Do not move far away. This will ensure that you be found in a timely manner.

If there seems to be a problem with your guide finding you, find the nearest phone and call your travel company(local in China), the staff will help you to find the guide in the site. Or you can ask help from young people, because most young people can speak little bit English in China, and they will be pleasure to help you.

12. How far is Beijing airport to downtown hotels? How much it will cost if taking taxi?

To take a taxi, it cost around 100~200 RMB depending on the distance of your hotel to the airport. Subway and airport bus express are another good choice too, and they are bilingual instruction with English and Chinese.

13. What if I get sick while travel in China? Should I bring the medicine with me?

If you get sick during the trip, tell the guide or your travel agent immediately, and ask them to bring you to hospital for curing, and most hospital you just register with your passport and can get a doctor. If you catch cold or have loose bowels, just get some medicine in drugstores. If you need some special medicine, it is better for you to bring enough from your country.

14. Do the bathroom match our needs?

Most hotels especially for foreigners have closestool and shower bath, and luxury hotel even have bathtub. The hotels for foreigners are at least 3-star hotels, so the facility will be good.

15. How to avoid public holidays in China? And what will happen if come across the public holidays?

Usually the public holidays in China is Spring Festival (floating date), Labor Holiday (1st May-3rd May), Dragon Boat Festival (5th May-7th May in Chinese Lunar Calendar), the Mid-autumn Festival (15th -17th Aug. in Chinese Lunar Calendar), National Holiday (1st Oct.-7th Oct. golden week for tourism), all cost during these dates will rise much, hotels and vehicles will be 2-4 times expensive than usual.

If your travel will be in holidays, for one thing, your cost will be much more, and another is that you will see People Mountain People Sea in China.

16. Should I tip the guide and driver during the trip?

Although China is not a tips country, it will be better for people to tip the guide and driver if you think they provide you good service, it is not compulsive but it will show that you are gentle and polite.